The Girl on the Train – Paula Hawkins
This 2015 best seller is narrated by three women; they recount events that had recently taken place or are currently happening. So we’re in their minds, seeing things from their perspectives. One of the women will be murdered. By whom? In this mystery Hawkins’ major bit of deception involves an affair that the murdered woman is having; Megan never uses the man’s name when writing about their meetings, nor does she give us enough information to identify him (in fact, we’re misled as to who he is). Though I read all 400 pages to find out who-dun-it, the experience became burdensome. Things were too drawn out, and the accumulation of loose ends wore me down. As did the plethora of psychological problems the women display. Rachel is the worst of the lot (and, since she’s an alcoholic who has black-out periods, her account of events is unreliable). The lives of all three women are dominated by men they find both sexually attractive and threatening. I felt little empathy for Hawkins’ characters, and this is partly due to how she keeps the intensity level unrelentingly high; what is needed is a fresh breath of normalcy. Also, as I neared the end, I realized that I wasn’t reading about adults. All the characters think and act like emotionally unstable children. They cry a lot, they fall apart, they think in platitudes. Because their impulse control is nil, they have affairs and commit murder (“See what you made me do?”). And they can’t stay off their devices; the novel is full of texting and emailing and voice messages.

A High Wind in Jamaica – Richard Hughes
I had attempted to read this novel twice before, but never got far. Since people I respect consider it to be a masterpiece, and I recently (at a used book sale) picked up a pristine copy in a Time Reading Program edition (which usually published excellent stuff), I again embarked, with determination, on Hughes’ story of children captured by pirates. I made it all to the way to the end, so am now qualified to give my opinion: the book is an elaborate bore. It’s overly rich in language but shallow in character and plot. Only Emily is given much attention, and she’s a mishmash of neurotic odds and ends. All others – her brothers and sisters, the captain and mate – are merely sketched in. As for plot, I got the sense that Hughes was scouring his mind for what outlandish happening to toss next into his disorderly procession of events. Admirers of High Wind tout the realism of its portrayal of children; Hughes backs that viewpoint in his Introduction, in which he claims that he was trying to portray them “realistically” and “lovingly.” But realism and love are totally absent from these pages. Real children recognize their vulnerability; they’re easily frightened and emotionally dependent on adults; they need stability. Hughes’ “wild things” never experience such feelings. The parents they leave behind are quickly forgotten, and when John dies his brother and sisters immediately erase him from their thoughts, as if he never existed. Instead of love, Hughes indulges in scenes in which people and animals are callously victimized. I agree with detractors such as Andre Gide, who could see no reason why the book had ever been written.

Various Miracles – Carol Shields
I counted twenty-one titles in this 183 page collection, which means that Shields keeps it short – as short as three pages. These aren’t stories; they’re evocations, in which the author tries to capture an emotion. She begins with an odd premise; from there she gives us fragments of experiences, or jumps back and forth in time, or starts with one character and then moves to another. I read these pieces over a long period of time, and looking at them again, to write this review, I find that I can’t remember their content; there wasn’t enough substance to hold onto. What I do remember is that, when I was in the act of reading, occasionally a connection was made: I experienced (to varying degrees) the emotion that Shields was trying to evoke. In some, I also recall, no emotion registered. The last story, which I read recently, was longer and more traditional than most. It begins with a stranger asking a couple to cash a personal check (they’re all Americans on vacation in Europe); they do him the favor, not knowing if they would ever be repaid. But a check arrives at the address they gave the man, and from then on, for over twenty years, they receive Christmas cards from him and his wife; each card contains a note about their lives, which seem to be idyllic. Meanwhile we follow the marriage of Robert and Lila, which doesn’t go so smoothly. One is left with a somewhat resigned “What is love all about, anyway?” feeling. In working with evocations Shields is taking a risk as a writer – the terrain is fragile and largely untrodden – so her successes are a unique accomplishment. Try these. If nothing else, you can admire the immaculate prose.